


i hope these are passing delusions

by orbitalknight



Category: Kamen Rider OOO
Genre: Flash Fic, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Post-Canon, if this wasn't flash fic i'd call it slow burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-16 16:55:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21039584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orbitalknight/pseuds/orbitalknight
Summary: when you come back home after a long time away, everything is still familiar. and yet, at the same time, it isn't.





	i hope these are passing delusions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GallEXy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GallEXy/gifts).

Shingo Izumi still wasn’t used to living with borrowed memories.  
They manifested in motions of his wrist, cravings for specific brands of ice cream, and the uncomfortable but undeniably feathery sensation that fluttered in his ribcage every time he thought of Eiji Hino. Sometimes these hazy half-recollections would drag his feet to places that were both familiar and distinctly not so. He knew the city well enough from his work as a policeman, but the perspective he had now was different, muscle memory and instinct rather than the logic of memorizing locations for casework.

There was a park that overlooked the water which fell into this category; Shingo found himself occupying one of its benches or stretches of guardrail frequently in the early evenings. Occasionally there was a salesman with a cart of ice cream who would wheel his wares over the paths, but Shingo hadn’t been lucky enough to catch him today. Still, the day had been a busy one and he was content enough to look over the water. Shingo couldn’t say he had total closure with his incapacitated year, but he was making peace with all the habits, gestures, and fragments of feeling that had woven their way into his life now. It was the ocean for today’s scenery, along with passing boats and the city skyline. 

The sound of the waves was broken by a voice that Shingo hadn’t heard in quite a while, but at the same time one he would never fail to identify in a single guess. 

“I love this view,” Said Eiji Hino, wearing a nostalgic smile and his usual array of clashing patterns all the way down to his ankle-length boots, “Even if it’s a little different every time I see it.” 

Shingo had known Eiji was visiting for the weekend, so seeing him wasn’t a total surprise. Really, he wouldn’t have been able to forget, given all the texts that Hina had been sending him about their dinner plans. Still, the scenery and the company struck some deep nerve, and he felt for a moment as if he’d been dunked in a deep pool of deja vu. 

“You’re not... implicated in any robberies or other criminal cases this time, are you?” Shingo meant it like a joke, but genuine concern leaked into his voice. 

Eiji smiled the same nostalgia-tinted smile as before. “Not yet, at least! But you’d know if I was, right, Mr. Detective?”

Shingo couldn’t help but tighten his grip on the rail ever so slightly. “Maybe not for a few days, at least. I mostly do paperwork now, anyway.” He tried to laugh it off, but being reassigned from active casework and desk-bound had stung. The logic was sound, given the severity of his injury. 

Confusion and a dash of worry were plainly written across Eiji’s face, in the wrinkle between his brows. “I thought you'd made a full recovery.” 

“I did, but nobody was actually sure if my body would stay recovered. I was... lucky they didn’t fire me. I made some good friends at physical therapy, too.” Even though Shingo had technically “graduated” from PT by now, he still kept in touch with the people he’d met. One of them always had a new story about his recently reassigned partner, too. “How’s the wide world been, Eiji?” He didn’t exactly want to keep talking about himself. 

“Beautiful, and very wide,” Eiji laughed a little, “I’ve missed it. Good to be in town for a few days, but I think I’m glad I’m not staying too long.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask... Where are you headed this time? I was considering joining you, to be honest.” 

Eiji frowned a little at what was clearly an unexpected proposal. “You’d like to go with me?” 

Heat rose to Shingo’s cheeks. “I’ve always been curious about the ‘tomorrow’s underpants’ traveling style. And I would like to get to know you better. That would be the best way to do it, wouldn’t it?”

Eiji smiled with a warmth that sent Shingo’s heart into a mad dash, then turned his face towards the ocean. There was something unreadable there, in the way the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Yeah. Company might be a good change of pace.”

**Author's Note:**

> hey there!!
> 
> this pairing ... hits a bunch of things i enjoy writing at once. 
> 
> shingo doesn't have a ton to go on canon-wise so i hope you don't mind my spin on him. admittedly i am pretty fond of formerly possessed toku policemen on the whole. 
> 
> anyway, i hope you enjoy the fic!


End file.
